Please no. Last year Rockets had the right pieces but heavily blamed the loss on CP3 injury. Rocket had an early lead Game 6-7 but still lost. This season they acquired good pieces to replace Ariza and Mbah but hardly utilized them in the playoffs. D’Antoni relies solely on Harden to deliver and Harden withers away in the last quarter and he does not develop young talent. D’Antoni had plenty of chances but he never adjusted and Rockets need to go another direction. It’s fun and all to watch his system work when shots are falling but its hair pulling experience when opponents step up their defense where Rockets look lost offensively.
If MDA is extended, then that only means Fertitta is about to be retooling. Whatever it takes, huh? Continuity is important but everyone is so darn stubborn, they change the surface a little and sell it that everything is new. They're no good sales persons either.
cyberx just take the L on this one and this is bad news. Just watch the Bucks game and see how they get in rhythm, get their threes off of passing and move off the ball. As long as Harden is allowed and instructed to just keep iso balling with zero passes - because it leads to less turnovers in theory, role players just standing around doing nothing then it will be the same story next year. Even if you come out of the West, you are not beating the Bucks or even the Raptors like that.
Nope, never said that. I used them as an example for why you need to diversify your offense and use the mid-range, especially when threes aren't falling, late in the game.
Good coach. Nobody can beat the warriors so no shame in that. Rockets by the far the closest in western conference.
I'm no fan of D'Antoni, but don't we want to retool instead of rebuild? This is the same core that went 65-17 a year ago. They went 42-15(a 60-22 pace over 82 games) after the horrendous 11-14 start this season. Unless the Blazers pull off a miracle, it's looking like yet again the Rockets were the only team(pending what happens in the Finals) to remotely challenge the Warriors over the last 2 years in the playoffs. So yes, retooling is a good thing. Get a replacement for Bzdelik. Resign or replace the bench guys PRIOR to the start of the regular season in October. Monitor everyone's minutes so they're not overextended and worn out prior to the playoffs. Add a few tweaks to the offense so it's not overly reliant on Harden ISO's. And make sure the team is ready to go on opening night so they don't cost themselves a higher seed with another slow start. Even with D'Antoni and his coaching deficiencies on the sidelines, all of this should be doable.
Nook, what is your feeling on this.. What if the Rockets dont want to extend him? think he will want to retire instead? i mean i dont think it would be smart to extend him for another 3 years.
Exactly. Are these guys suggesting we should be holding GS to 90 points or something? Our defense was stellar against a high powered offense. The problem is every point we scored was a freaking struggle. You need to get some easier baskets. I know that’s damn near impossible against GS when they are dialed in but that’s what it’s going to take. Good luck holding GS under 100 points.
Even if we did part ways with D'Antoni, who would replace him? People were fighting over Monty Williams prior to him signing with the Suns. The Lakers had to settle for Frank Vogel. Kings opted to sign Luke Walton after letting Jorger go. Unless you want J.B. Bickerstaff back on the staff, I don't see a clear cut better option.
MDA isn’t perfect and he isn’t Popovich or Carlisle when it comes to detail or making half time adjustments. However, he is exceptionally good at running an offense, he keeps his team chemistry in good shape and CP3 and Harden like and trust him. The difference between him and McHale is night and day. If someone like Carlisle was available, then I would be fine with a change. The reality is that there isn’t anyone out there available and do you want to risk it on a rookie coach like Silas when Harden will be 30 and CP3 will be 34? I don’t think I would. I think it is interesting and revealing that MDA went public wanting a 3 year deal. He has put the Rockets on the spot a bit. One thing to keep in mind is that even if MDA gets 3 years, it doesn’t mean he will coach all three years. TF has a history of paying coaching to not coach at UH. So at the end of the day, at this point I think MDA is the best available option and he is a good coach. The issue is whether he is good enough. He has had some bad luck in Phoenix and Houston... but it is a results driven league and we want to win.
i just dont see the Rockets doing any kind of extension- it doesn't make sense.. im fine with him coaching his last year of the contract, but im not sure if he is fine with that. just odd he put the rockets on the spot with the extension..
He could have put them on the spot for several reasons. It could be that he has let them know privately he wants to be back and he hasn’t heard a response and wants a resolution. It could be that he and the Rockets already are working on an extension. If the Rockets plan to attract the best players in a S&T (Butler) or at their MLE (Green etc) then they need some stability at head coach. My guess is he gets an extension. However that doesn’t mean that he will stay all 2-3 years. TF has a history of paying coaches to not coach and bringing in bigger name coaches and paying them well.
why not let him play out the last year of his contract and see where things stand? Why extend now? he hasn't won anything yet.
Sign up NBA all team defensive players (Butler, Horford, DJ, etc...) and I'm good with this. MDA can have a top 5 defense with stud defenders.
I think the problem is that the Rockets where they are right now can't really afford to change coaches. This is a veteran team. Even Capela who just turned 25 has already played 5 seasons. Bringing in a brand new head coach(particularly if it was a younger, untested one) could do more harm than good. Now if an experienced coach was out there(a Doc Rivers or Rick Carlisle type), I could see Tilman and Morey making the change. Kinda like when Adelman was brought in to replace JVG. But unfortunately there's no one out there who's an obvious upgrade to D'Antoni. At least no one on my radar. So they're instead deciding to ride this out for the rest of Harden's contract and then rebuild after that.
